Student Question
Hello, Master. I recently started at a new job. Perhaps because I want so badly to get ahead, I’ve pushed myself to become something like an ascetic monk. Every day I’m up at six in the morning and in bed by eleven at night, no exceptions. My phone has almost no games on it — I mainly use it to search for information online. But lately I’ve lost my sense of direction again. I’m starting to question what the real value of all this is. I’d like to ask for your guidance.
Master Chi’s Response
The truth is, people with extreme self-discipline earn everyone’s admiration.
But rarely their envy.
Because if life means living in opposition to human nature — yes, the odds of success increase, but where is the joy in actually living?
That said, you’ll also notice: the more successful a group of people, the more ultra-disciplined individuals you find among them.
On Method — Progress Gradually, Without Sacrificing Joy
So how do you find that middle ground?
One: For most people, pushing yourself too hard simply doesn’t work.
Most people have natural tendencies toward inertia. Take building a side income or creating a personal brand as an example — writing ability is critical. Say you want to rapidly improve your writing so your content builds better trust with clients.
- You set yourself a plan.
- You commit to writing 1,000 words every day.
At first, riding a wave of enthusiasm, you stick with it. But after a week, you start slipping. Other things pile up. Some evenings you get home late. Sometimes you’re out socializing and don’t get back until past midnight — and all you want to do is rest. Who has the energy to write 1,000 words?
So your writing plan barely lasts two weeks before it turns into a cycle of three days on, two days off. Two weeks after that, all those materials and supplies you bought specifically for writing — you don’t even know where you put them. And honestly, you probably don’t want to look at them, because you didn’t follow through.
I’ve mentioned this before in my community: when people first start something, they’re usually desperate for fast results — they want everything done in a day. So the plans they set are unrealistic, running counter to human nature. If you have no writing experience and you’re committing to 1,000 words a day right out of the gate, most people simply can’t sustain that. We need to approach things gradually, step by step.
Two: How do you build an improvement plan that actually works?
Say you want to write — to develop your content creation skills. Start by setting yourself a daily target of just 100 to 200 words. You’ll find this is quite easy to achieve. Each day, with just a little time, you can complete it without strain.
Why make the target so easy to hit?
Because only when something is easy to complete will you actually stick with it.
If you can finish this in half an hour each day, you’ll maintain the habit consistently — rather than grinding toward a harsh 1,000-word daily target, slipping occasionally, and feeling like a failure every time you do.
- Our plan is 100 to 200 words a day. But in real life, will we really stop at just that? No. If you’re in a good mood and it’s a light day, you might write 500 words — or more. And if you had a full schedule and got home late, knocking out 100 to 200 words is no great trouble either.
Three: So if you truly want to accomplish something — or change a habit — try this approach.
Allow your natural inertia to exist. Give yourself some grace. Stop chasing fast results. Set your targets lower, stretch your timeline longer. You’ll find it far easier to see things through — and to earn returns that last.